BREWVIEW ON ALLAGASH TRIPEL RESERVE BATCH 197

We first tried this beer in 2001, and like the American breweries staring to develop new beers in the Belgian style, it didn’t impress us. We found the hop character to be inappropriate for the style, but we knew that this beer was going to evolve, and get better over time. And sure enough, it did. As the years passed, the esters improved, the hop balance became more appropriate, and started to become a world class beer. The last time we had this beer was at least 4 years ago, and we felt it was time to try it again, and offer a BrewView on this year’s finding. Needless to say, we were pleasantly surprised this go-round.

APPEARANCE / THE POUR:9% ABV. Served at 55° F. Poured into a wide-mouthed Trappist goblet from the 750ML corked bottle. The beer pours a classic deep straw color, cloudy, with a 2-finger head with white dense bubbles. Great head retention on this beer, collapses moderately slow, leaving behind a good Brussels lacing on the sides of the glass. Meniscus is slow rising.

AROMA / BOUQUET:The immediate bouquet on this beer has a definitive fruity ester to it, with some herbal notes in the background. Truth be told, we found this Tripel to have almost a Saison-type bouquet to it.

TASTE:This Tripel is very reminiscent of a Westmalle Tripel. Dry malt character, citrusy.

OVERALL IMPRESSION:Allagash Tripel Reserve (Batch 197) is an excellent beer… world class. Do a blind taste test between this beer and Westmalle Tripel, and see what differences you discover. Widely available year-round at most good beer retailers.